Tags: Akihabara

Cars decorated with manga/anime and video game characters first appeared in Japan during the ’80s, but after 2000 they became a real phenomenon. They are called itasha, a term that originally meant “Italian car” (because during the ’80s Italian cars were known as stylish), but now it is written 痛車, which means “pain cars"… because they are painfully expensive…

However, there are also less expensive solutions for the fans. Since in Japan the bicycles are very popular, it is only natural that the itasha two-wheeled equivalent is also available: meet the itachari (chari means bicycle), spectacularly adorned bikes. If you’re wondering, the characters on these itachari photographed in Akihabara, Tokyo, are from the Idolmaster video game.